a large port device that adds 5k armor to your ship at the expence of a weapon and weight penalty

the weight and amount of armor is up for debate

A 1:1 ratio with weight

Is this armor boost a fixed value? If so, am I safe to assume that it can be restored to full value in the repair / reload function when docked?

Or is this armor boost being from a 'device' intended to regenerate to full value over time using energy from the power cell?

Personally, I lean towards the second option.